About To Pull the Trigger on a New 2012 but Want Some Advice

[drksyd]

I'm not sure what material the rear deck cover is made of but it is not thin metal. The only metal there is the actual rear deck that the speakers are mounted to. I'm quite sure it's the cover that is rattling so adding Dynamat or some other padding may help. I'll have to say removing the rear deck cover is not fun and even worse putting it back in.
To remove the rear deck cover you need to fold the rear seats down and remove the outside seat bolsters. That'll give you access to fasteners holding the cover in. There's a fairly large clip about the middle of the cover that slides onto the rear deck, it's just glued to the cover so becareful with that. Putting the cover back in was a PITA. You need to make sure it slides back in even and that there are no low spots. I have a low spot now and that's how it came from the factory. I would fix it but don't have much time anymore since we had our baby girl.

[Jet driver]

Thanks drksyd. I had it at the dealer three times,they put foam in the panel. It helped but didn't eliminate the rattle, Chrysler not going to anything until there's a TSB. I posted a video of the rattle on U Tube, on the same page there is another post of a through review the HK sound system in a new 300c. They had the same issue with the rattle and stated it spoiled the whole system.the last dealer I had the car at brought in another new SRT from the lot for a comparison, Theirs did the same thing. It's definitely a design flaw. The rattle is only set off by certain tones or frequencies. It's still a great car but out of the four LX vehicles I've had my 2008 300 srt design had the best build quality by far.

[Freedom]

Originally Posted by nick71692

Thanks for all the replies. I guess to address the first post, it was more of a general overview of things you have learned during ownership, i.e. what annoys you about the car, wish you could change, etc....

How well do these cars retain value after a year or two? One of things I have always loved about the Audi's, specifically the S4, is how well they retain their value.

Not to sound rude, but do you trade your cars in every couple years? I hear people ask these questions all the time and don't understand why people would buy a car for it's resale value.

[drksyd]

Originally Posted by Jet driver

Thanks drksyd. I had it at the dealer three times,they put foam in the panel. It helped but didn't eliminate the rattle, Chrysler not going to anything until there's a TSB. I posted a video of the rattle on U Tube, on the same page there is another post of a through review the HK sound system in a new 300c. They had the same issue with the rattle and stated it spoiled the whole system.the last dealer I had the car at brought in another new SRT from the lot for a comparison, Theirs did the same thing. It's definitely a design flaw. The rattle is only set off by certain tones or frequencies. It's still a great car but out of the four LX vehicles I've had my 2008 300 srt design had the best build quality by far.

To be honest, I never expect any American car to be perfect. Before I got my 300, I shopped around because I knew service would be poor and didn't expect much of the build quality. Don't get me wrong, I have no regrets with the 300, I liked my Charger a lot and that's why I wanted to upgrade to an SRT.

Originally Posted by Freedom

Not to sound rude, but do you trade your cars in every couple years? I hear people ask these questions all the time and don't understand why people would buy a car for it's resale value.

Sorry guys, I inadvertently hit the "Thanks" button. To answer your question, things happen be it good our bad. My 300 is the third new car I've had in three years.

[toasteroven]

The trick with a new car is to realize you are paying the "premium" for two things that are intertwined; the warranty, and nobody else has owned it but you. I never buy a car worrying about it's resale value; you're going to stay awake many nights no matter what you buy if that is a driving force for your purchase. Do your research, and as long as you can get out of the financing / break even in 2-4 years on what you owe vs. the car's value, who cares?

[Jet driver]

Drksyd I know no car is perfect but when you spend 55k plus and 2grand for the optional sound system, I don't expect the back panel to rattle and buzz at a moderate volume with the base not even set at mid level. I think they made a mistake by mounting several speakers and a sub woofer in the back panel. Otherwise it's a great car.